Plurilingualism in Europe

Koľko jazykov vieš, toľkokrát si človekom.The more languages you know, the more of a person you are.(Slovak proverb)

During the European Day of Languages we celebrate plurilingualism in Europe, in particular we wish to:

remind you that Europeans speak many languages,

indicate how important language learning is,

encourage everyone – regardless of their age – to learn foreign languages, as anyone can learn another language!

There are over 200 European languages, of which 23 constitute official languages of the European Union. The European Commission is working towards a Union in which all citizens speak several languages. At the end of their school education, every citizen in the EU should be able to communicate in at least two foreign languages. Their language capabilities may be further improved, or supplemented, by the ability to communicate in further foreign languages, the choice depending on which foreign languages they need in their private or professional life, or how perfectly they want to know them.